GECs
Entertainment industry to converge at ICE summit
Kolkata will host the ICE (Information Technology, Communications and Entertainment) summit on 18-19 November this year.
Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Summit will try to forecast the period of the ongoing global slowdown and the effects of the events of September 11.
The summit will focus on ways in which Indian companies can shift their focus away from the USA and reduce our dependence on the superpower. The Convergence Bill will be discussed with respect to its benefits to consumers and suppliers. The consequences of the bill and the role of the proposed regulator will be examined. It will also look at the viability of the bill, given the shifting media scenario in the country.
Broadband, the new mantra of the Indian entertainment sector, will also be tackled head on. Other topics that will discussed include business ideas and latest technologies for the Internet as well as the increasing importance given to wireless. It will also analyse consumer and producer trends. The dotcom collapse will be looked into, and new markets that infotech companies can tap will be explored. The summit will showcase corporate conglomerates which are using the web to expand their customer base.
Some personalities expected to put across their point of view include actor Aamir Khan, RPG vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka, Reliance Telecom president Subodh Saxena, Bharti Enterprises MD Sunil Bharti Mittal, SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta, Zee CEO R K Singh, Balaji creative director Ektaa Kapoor, and UTV Net Solutions CEO Biren Ghose.
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
